US 2012/0244769 A1 states that during fabrication of precursor materials that are subsequently processed into shaped sub-assemblies, composites may be fabricated having resin-rich and resin-poor areas, where resin-rich areas have a greater concentration of polymeric binder material than resin poor areas. Typically, resin-poor areas are found at one or both of the outer surfaces with most of the polymeric binder at the interior of the composite. This results in difficulties in consolidating individual layers into sub-assemblies and/or processing multiple sub-assemblies. To solve the problems associated with a non-uniform distribution of resin, US 2012/0244769 A1 provides a method of producing a composite impregnated with a non-uniformly distributed binder, i.e., matrix material, comprising:    a) providing a fiber layer having an outer top surface and an outer bottom surface, the fiber layer comprising a plurality of fiber plies, each of said fiber plies comprising a plurality of fibers, wherein the fiber layer is impregnated with a polymeric binder material,    b) applying a thermoplastic polymer in the shape of, for example, a scrim or a film onto said outer and/or bottom surface of the fiber layer, and    c) bonding the thermoplastic polymer on the fiber layer to the fiber layer.
So, the resulting composites of US 2012/0244769 A1 exhibit a thermoplastic polymer on their outer and/or bottom surfaces additionally to the polymeric binder material, i.e., additionally to the matrix material, and are useful as ballistic resistant composites. Application of said additional thermoplastic polymer on the outer surface(s) of the composite needs additional process steps in the manufacturing process of the ballistic resistant composites and, therefore increases the effort which is necessary to manufacture a ballistic resistant article comprising said composites. In the event that the thermoplastic polymer film is under-adhered to the outer surface of the composite, the film no longer provides abrasive protection on the outer surface. In the event that the thermoplastic polymer film is over-adhered to the outer surface of the composite, the film can negatively impact the ballistic performance of the composite. The transition between over-adhering and under-adhering occurs within a temperature range of 5° C. and requires precise process control to achieve the desired level of adhesion. However, in the field of ballistic resistant articles there is an everlasting demand for articles that can be manufactured in an easier manner without impairing the ballistic resistance of the article in terms of their v50-values.
Therefore, the problem sought to be addressed by the present application is to provide a ballistic resistant article that can be manufactured in an easier manner than known from the cited art, but without impairing the ballistic resistance of the article in terms of its v50-values.